1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the secure packaging of ratchets, sockets for ratchet wrenches, and ratchet extensions for merchandising and storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ratchet wrenches of the kind which are used by professional and amateur mechanics commonly include a gripping handle integrally formed with a ratchet head unit. The ratchet head unit generally includes a male sexed ratchet drive nub operationally connected to a reversible ratchet mechanism positioned within the ratchet head. Detachable sockets are available for use with such ratchets which include a drive aperture dimensioned to receive male sexed ratchet drive nubs of certain standard sizes. For example, standard sized drive nubs may be 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2 inches square. On an opposite end of the socket there is typically provided a second aperture designed to securely engage a nut or the head of a bolt. To aid in the use of such tools, it is often helpful to make use of a ratchet accessory item. Such an accessory item may be an extension bar, a knuckle connector or some other item for use in connection with ratchets and sockets.
It is often desirable to store a series of sockets for ratchet wrenches in an organized manner so that various socket sizes for use with different size nuts and bolts may be easily located. Systems of the prior art for storing such sockets have included elongated metal rack systems with resilient male-engaging members for engaging the drive end of a socket to be stored thereon. Significantly, however, such systems suffer from a serious drawbacks in that, if they are dropped on the floor or roughly handled, sockets mounted thereon will tend to be knocked off the rack, and thereby become disorganized. Furthermore, such systems typically suffer from corrosion problems due to the necessity of manufacturing such items from metal. To date, no economical and commercially available socket-storage systems have been available which have overcome the problem of securely holding a socket in a convenient, releasable manner.
Likewise, for the purposes of merchandising and maintaining tools in an organized manner, it is often useful to be able to store a ratchet wrench with a set of sockets. In the case of merchandising displays, the positioning of a ratchet wrench with a set of sockets promotes sales of the units as a set. It also provides a neat, organized package which can be easily stocked. For similar reasons, it is helpful to be able to sell a ratchet accessory with a set of sockets. Finally, in order to provide a more compact and attractive looking display, it is useful when storing a ratchet wrench with a set of sockets, to store the sockets on a rack which is elongated so that it follows the basic elongated shape of the ratchet wrench handle. In this way, the amount of display area required is minimized for the combination ratchet wrench and socket set. Of course, for reasons of appearance, it is important that the ratchet wrench handle be aligned in parallel with the elongated rack.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a secure merchandising device for displaying a set of sockets together with a ratchet wrench.
It would also be desirable to provide a secure merchandising device for displaying a set of sockets together with a ratchet wrench, and which can further be used by a consumer as a convenient storage rack after purchase.
It would also be desirable to provide a secure merchandising and storage rack for a set of sockets, a ratchet wrench and a ratchet accessory.